Heel-pad for shoes.



M. J. NOLAN.

HEEL PAD FOR SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3, 1914.

1,167,103. Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

Illl'l' Zdfineasem jun/anion MichaeZJNoZan a. I L /z 296%? W coLumLm. FLANOGRAI'H to" WASHINGTON. D. c,

MICHAEL .rfnorim, or cHrcAeo, innrlvois.

' HEEL-PAD FOB; 'snons. 7

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MICHAEL J. NOLAN,-

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county ofCook and State ofilllinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Heel-Pads "for Shoes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying dra'wings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a novel heel pad for shoes adapted to be worn between themsole of the shoe and the foot at the heel thereof and extending a distance forwardly toward the instep, generally. adapted to relieve shocks and jars due to walking on-hard and unyielding surfaces such as city side-walks, tile floors in modern buildings and the like. Among the objectsof the invention is to providea cushion having a large cushioning or yielding capacity for absorbing shocks whilecapalole of being compressed into relatively small compass when in use so as not to necessitate oversized shoes.

A further object of'the invention is to provide a cushion or pad for thepurpose stated which presents an agreeable or :comfortable surface for contact with the foot, and which is not appreciably affected by moisture from the foot, the sheath -.of the pad being for this purpose made of a texture which prevents substantial internal absorption of the moisture from the foot, and also of such material as to readily dry when the pad is removed from the shoe.

A further object of the invention is to provide means to prevent the pad being forced downwardly toward the toe of the shoe when the shoe is being put on.

The invention consists in the matters here'- inafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a perspective view of a heel pad embodying my in vention. Fig. 2 shows the position of the pad in the shoe when in use. Fig. 3 is a cross section of the pad.

A pad embodying my invention consists of a sheath or covering 10, preferably made from an upper and a lower member 11, 12, respectively, and a body of cushioning material 14 confined within the sheath or covering. The cushioning material consists of a substance which is springy so as to tend to Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed December 3,1914. Serial Nb. 375,236.

sheath members 11 and 12.

: Patented Jame, 1916.

resume a normal volume when pressure thereon is released, and which also tends to reject moisture from fthe foot, and from which moisture, which may adhere thereto,

rapidly evaporates. A suitable substance for said filling is fine feather down. The sheath or covering 10 is made of a material having a'base or foundation 15 which is of a rela tively coarse texture, and a substantially long outstandingpileor nap 16. A mate-- rial which I have foundin use to be practicable and successful is silk velour, but other pile fabrics of this general character may be 'employed- Advantages of a fabric of this character are ;1irst, that slight moisture from the foot will be taken up by the. fabric, wlthout penetrating the filling; second, that any moisture which may penetrate the filling may readily escape therefrom when the pad is taken out of the shoe and placed in a dry-,

ing atmosphere; third, the upper surface of the pad is comfortable and agreeable to the foot of the person wearing the pad, and fourth, friction between the lower face of the pad and the insole of the shoe is suflicient to overcome, to a large extent, the tendency of thepad to slip down intotl e shoe when the shoe is being put on. In order to further avoid the pad slipping down into; the. shoe when the shoelis beingput on I may cover the upper face of the pad near its front end with a piece of fabricv 17 having a. smooth surface over which the toe of the foot will slip without tendency to push the pad into the front of the shoe. This covering may be made of any suitable material, such'as linen, fine cotton or the like, and is preferably sewed to the upper cover member before the two parts of the sheath or cover are sewed together.

The .pad herein shown is made of two parts of substantially the same dimensions,

which are joined together at their edges by two lines of binding stitches 18. If desired,

an ornamental stitching 19 may be applied over the binding stitches and the edges of the The pad is thinnest at its side and end margins where the upper and lower members der the forward portion of the arch of the foot is considerably thinner than the other marginal portion thereof, and is flared outcent to the walls of the shoe, will not tend to.

objectionably' bunch or thicken when the pad is compressed, as shown on Fig. 2, such as would be true if the pad were made of equal thickness throughout. On the other hand, the pad when thus'compressed, and flattened by the superposed weight is of substantially the same thickness throughout the heel supporting portion thereof, but is not objection ably thick at the arch, though presenting a body of sufficient thickness to support a weakened arch.

I have found in use that a pad made in accordance with the foregoing description is capable of large compression without diminishing its cushioning effect, so that a pad which would seem objection-ably large is not noticeable when placed in the shoe and the weight of the person thrown thereon. At the same time the characteristics of the filling and the covering or sheath are such that when the pad is removed from the shoe, even though somewhat moistened, the pad readily resumes its full size, as shown in Fig. 1 and readily dries.

I claim as my invention 1. A heel pad for shoes arranged to fit loosely within the heel and arch portions of the shoe and to terminate at the front of the arch and arranged for direct contact with the foot of the wearer, said pad comprising a covering or sheath made of a fabric having a foundation of porous texture and a soft outstanding pile or nap, and

a filling composed of a material which has a tendency to reject moisture and having the capacity to restore itself from a compact to a fluffy condition, the filling of said pad being of uniform softness and flufiiness throughout its length and width and unrestrained by through-quilting and the pad being transversely and longitudinally rounded toward its thickest central portion whereby when the pad is compressed or flattened it is substantially equal in thickness throughout its heel supporting portion, the front end marginal portion being thinner than the other marginal portions and laterally flared.

2. A. heel pad for shoes arranged to fit loosely within the heel of the shoe and to terminate short of the toe of the shoe and arranged for direct contact with thfoot of the wearer, said pad comprising a cover ing or sheath made of a fabric having a foundation of porous texture and a soft pliable pile or nap, and a filling composed of a material which has the tendency to reject moisture and having a capacity to restore itself from a compact to a fluffy condition, and a covering applied to the upper side of the front end of the sheath to permit the foot to slip thereover without forcing the pad toward the toe of the shoe.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention 1 affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this 25th day of November, A. 1)., 191a.

MICHAEL J. NOLAN.

Witnesses W. L. HA L, G. E. DOWLE.

Copies .of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

